“Wait,” Aysha said, holding up her hand. “I’m confused. We all saw the footage from the bridge, Nicky. You weren’t the one in costume. You were standing next to Pyro Storm.”
“You’re so observant,” Nick said through gritted teeth. “How fun. That was a … hologram. A hologram I created in order to confuse Shadow Star and gain the upper hand. It only looked like I was two different people because of the advanced tech that we somehow created that I won’t bore you with the details about. I don’t even understand it, for the most part. Story of my life.”
Miles nodded slowly. “But didn’t you—forgive me if this sounds a little forward—but didn’t you maul Pyro Storm? It was very … wet. The wonders of high definition.”
Dad sounded as if he were choking on his tongue.
“Maul?” Nick said, outraged. “I didn’t maul anyone. It was a loving kiss that I placed … upon myself because I … deserved it?”
“Oh my,” Martha said again. Bob folded his arms and grinned at Nick, as if he was enjoying the hell out of this. Nick made a mental note to plot serious yet harmless revenge against him.
Seth said, “Nick, what are you doing?”
He really had no idea. All that mattered was protecting Seth’s secret identity, and if that meant throwing himself at the mercy of parental figures, then so be it. “Look,” he said, trying to hold together the tatters of his completely plausible story, “I know it’s shocking to hear that someone like me could be an Extraordinary—”
“Not that shocking,” Trey said, rubbing a hand over his scalp. “If anyone was going to be an Extraordinary, I’d think it’d be you. It actually makes a lot of sense.”
“It does?” Nick asked. He coughed. “I mean, of course it does, so there’s no need to question anything else. Since you now know the big secret, we can all focus on the important things, like what is up with this weather? Global warming, am I right? Those poor polar bears with all that melting ice. We should be ashamed for treating our only home with such disregard.”
Apparently not giving a crap about polar bears, Aysha turned to her daughter. “And you knew about this?”
“I don’t know anything that’s happening right now,” Gibby said.
“Jasmine?” Jo asked. “Is this true?”
Jazz glanced at Nick before looking at her mom. “If I say yes, are you going to take my Alexander McQueen pumps away?”
Jo blinked. “No?”
Jazz breathed a sigh of relief. “Then, yes. Mostly. Nick is certainly capable of being Nick.”
He didn’t know if that was a compliment or not. He was about to ask for clarification when Seth said, “Nicky.”
He looked over at him.
Seth shook his head. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Yeah,” he said, “I do. Because Pyro Storm—me—needs to remember how important he is. And not …” He frowned. “Not just to me? Wait, that doesn’t make sense.”
Seth reached over and took his hand, squeezing gently. Nick studied his face, cataloguing the shadows under his eyes, the firm set of his jaw. He looked weary and resigned, something Nick never wanted him to be. “Nick,” he said gently. “They deserve to know, especially since their kids are involved. It’s only fair.”
“Fair,” Nick managed to say, that old, familiar feeling of his lungs constricting causing the word to come out choked. “How is it fair that you always have to clean up the messes I make? You only did what you did because—” Because of me, but he couldn’t get the words out, couldn’t finish because his throat had tightened, his breath whistling between clenched teeth.
Nick didn’t see Dad move and flinched when his father knelt before him, gripping his knees, keeping them from bouncing. Nick’s thoughts were caught in a storm, the knot in his head writhing, and that whisper, that caress in the back of his mind, grew claws, digging in. A headache bloomed quietly, and he couldn’t focus, couldn’t—
“Nicky,” Dad said, sounding far away. “Kid, I need you to breathe. Deep breaths, okay? In. Hold. Out. Hold. You can do this. I know you can. Breathe, kid. Just—”
Nick snapped out of his spiral when the floor began to vibrate. The half-empty plate of cookies rattled across the coffee table. The windows shook. Pictures hanging on the walls swung crooked.
Then it stopped.
Everyone looked around. “What was that?” Trey asked. “An earthquake?”
“Maybe it was a train,” Miles said, though he sounded dubious.
Martha and Bob looked just as confused. “Probably a garbage truck going by,” Bob said. “You know how these old houses get.”
Dad, though … Dad’s hands shook as he reached up and cupped Nick’s face. “Did you … you took your pill, right?”
Anger, then. Anger and embarrassment mixed together. He jerked his head back out of Dad’s hands. “Yeah,” he said, not meeting anyone’s gaze. “I did. Like I always do. Every day. I’m sorry my brain makes me say stupid things, but I can’t always control it.” The bitterness in his words tasted like acid on his tongue.
Dad breathed in and let it out slow. “There’s nothing wrong with your brain. There never has been. You’re just … Nick. And that’s a good thing,” he added as Nick opened his mouth to retort. “I wouldn’t want you to be any other way. We can go. We probably should get you some air.”
Nick shook his head. “I can’t. Dad, this is important.”
“Nothing is more important than your health,” Dad said, voice hard.
“He’s right, Nicky,” Seth said, and Nick couldn’t bring himself to look at him. “There’s nothing wrong with you.” He sighed. “We have to trust them, especially since Gibby and Jazz are involved. They have a right to know what we’re doing.”
Nick finally worked up the courage to look at Seth.
Seth—wonderful, amazing Seth—nodded at him. He reached out and took his hand again. Dad watched the two of them, an inscrutable expression on his face.
Nick said, “I’m sorry.”
Seth shrugged. “You don’t need to be. You remember when I came out to you? You had my back then. I know you’ll have it now.”
“Please be my friend forever,” Nick said, because it was the only thing he could think of.
Seth laughed quietly. “Forever is a long time.”
“I know, but you’re worth it.”
Seth brought Nick’s hand to his mouth, kissing the back of it sweetly.
“Oh my god,” Gibby said, and they both jumped. They looked over to see her scowling, her eyes wet. “Stupid boys. I hate you so much. Incoming.”
Nick squawked when she practically tackled him out of his chair, knocking Dad on his butt. He looked over her shoulder in time to see Jazz doing the same to Seth, though much more delicately, settling on his lap, pressing his face against her neck, petting his hair, cooing at him that he was the most precious thing in the universe and that she would destroy anything that tried to harm him. “Are you sure?” Nick heard Jazz ask.